Tball 5/6

General Rules

• No tobacco, alcohol, firearms, or profanity on the field at any time.
• Games are 6 innings or 1:15 time limit.
• 3 outs or 5 runs limit per inning.
• USA Stamped bats only
• All coaches on the field and all team parents in the dugout must be Cal Ripken certified. No bat boys or girls.
• No throwing bats back to the dugout
• When a coach or player is ejected from a game, they must leave the field immediately and may not be present at the game site for the remainder of the game. Any coach or player that is ejected will be subject to review by the park’s governing board.
• All coaches must either wear a team jersey or approved Westside apparel. All coaches must wear a team hat or approved Westside hat.
• All coaches coaching the last game of the night on the field are responsible for raking around home plate and the bases and are responsible for emptying the trash cans in the dugout.

Offensive Rules

• Three coaches allowed on offense – one running the tee, one coaching first, and one coaching third. All other coaches must remain in the dugout.
• Any offensive coach that touches a baserunner will result in the baserunner being called out.
• No strikeouts.
• No bunting.
• No intentional walks.
• The coach running the tee may NOT touch the batter once the ball is on the tee. The coach may position the batter at any time as long as the ball is NOT on the tee.
• Ball must be touching or beyond the 25-foot painted arch for the batted ball to be in fair play.
• All players hit.

Defensive Rules

• 3 coaches allowed on defense. 2 coaches may be in the outfield grass to assist outfielders. 1 coach may stand outside of the dugout to assist infielders. All other coaches must remain in the dugout.
• All players play on defense. The infield consists of normal positions (1st, 2nd, SS, 3rd, and Pitcher). All other players are to be positioned in the outfield behind the painted outfield line. A catcher is optional and must wear an approved catcher’s helmet.
• The infielders must be positioned in the infield dirt. They MAY NOT be positioned in the outfield grass. Exception: the 1st and 3rd baseman may play up in the infield grass up to the painted hash line.
• Outfielders may come forward past the painted outfield line once the ball is in play.
• The pitcher must have at least one foot on the pitching rubber OR be positioned directly behind the rubber and remain within the pitching circle. They MAY NOT be positioned in front of the rubber or fully to the left or right of the rubber.
• If the pitcher fields a ball within the pitching circle, they must THROW the ball. They MAY NOT run and tag a runner or run to force a player out. Exception: plays at home. The pitcher MAY tag or force a runner out on a play at home if the ball is fielded in the pitcher’s circle.
• If the pitcher fields the ball in the grass, they MAY tag or force out a runner at ANY base.
• NO shifts allowed. The 1st baseman and 2nd baseman must be on the right side or directly behind second base. The SS and 3rd baseman must be on the left side or directly behind second base.
• Once the lead runner is contained or runners are no longer making an active attempt to advance a base, the play is over. This is a judgment call by the umpire.
• Each team gets 2 defensive timeouts per game. Switching defensive positions once an inning has started counts as a defensive time out. Once both defensive timeouts have been exhausted, the player must finish the inning at the same position that they started the inning.

Overthrow Rules

• An overthrow is defined as a throw that is unsuccessful and that gets by the player fielding the base.
• The batter must remain at 1st base on an overthrow to 1st base.
• A runner may advance 1 base on an overthrow at any base other than 1st base. The rule applies at the base where the overthrow occurs. All runners ahead of the base where the overthrow occurs can advance as many bases as they want, at their own risk.
• When a runner is advancing the one base that is allowed on the overthrow rule defined in the rule above, they are doing so at their own risk. It is not automatically awarded. If that runner advances beyond the one base that is allowed, they do so at their own risk and may be tagged out. If they advance safely to the additional base, they will be returned to the base they were allowed by rule to advance to.

Spring Season Specific Rules

• 10 run-rule after 4 innings. 6 run-rule after 5 innings. When the game is mathematically out of reach, as defined by the run-rules, the game is over. If the coaches decide to continue playing, as time allows, the score recorded is the score when the game was officially over.
• 1 extra inning in case of a tie, either after six innings OR time limit. If game is still tied after 1 extra inning, the game will result in a tie.
• A new inning may start if ANY time is remaining.

FALL SEASON SPECIFIC RULES

• The game ends either at 6 innings or when time expires, regardless of game situation.  If an at-bat is in progress when time expires, the at-bat may complete; then the game is over.